What The Hell Is A Superfractor?

Because the guy can’t make enough buzz as he continues to mow down minor leaguers in Syracuse, Stephen Strasburg’s Bowman Chrome Superfractor is officially sending this guy into orbit.

Currently, this baseball card (yeah, that’s right, a baseball card) is up to $16,100 on eBay with a little over 48 hours left to bid on it. Guess you better hop on over to the bank during your lunch break to see if you can qualify for an $18k loan to get your hands on this card.

For a little educational lesson in why the hell this card is so valuable for those outside of the trading card world, and also to figure out exactly what a Superfractor is, I’ve done a little research to figure everything out.

Get ready, we got a little wordy with this one…

Some Superfantastic Insight On Superfractors

Topps (probably one of the most popular card makers out there) owns the Bowman card brand, and has owned them for only about, oh, 50+ years. According to Wikipedia, the baseball card brand that was run of the mill in the 90’s when I was into card collecting was rejuvenated in 1997 when Topps issued Bowman Chrome. In 2001, Topps got the crazy idea to throw autographed rookie cards in its B. Chrome sets. Today, Albert Pujols’ 2001 card is worth about $2500 graded. Other popular rookies of recent memory (Joe Mauer, David Wright, etc.) also have similarly high value rookie cards from Bowman Chrome.

Now, Bowman Chrome Superfractors are an elite upgraded card. To understand what a Superfractor is, you need to know what a refractor is. According to WikiAnswers, a refractor trading card has “chrome reflective devices.” They also typically have a protective film on them.

What’s the difference between a refractor and a SUPERfractor? RARITY, my friends, RARITY.

In baseball card collecting, it’s all about how few of the card are produced. Think about that classic Honus Wagner T206 card. Sure, by today’s standards, it looks like hell, and the company that produced them can’t spell Pittsburgh right, but whatever. There were only like 50 of them produced in the early 1900’s – think about how many wives and moms threw those out? So, since there’s only like 3 of them “out there,” every time it goes on sale its a big deal.

The limited printing of Superfractors makes the T206 Honus Wagner seem like an easy card to get your hands on. Superfractors are serialized and only printed once.

So, to briefly summarize, superfractors are highly sought after, extremely limited print trading cards produced by Bowman of some of the top rookies in professional sports each season.

Combine the hype that Stephen Strasburg brings with his potential with the rarity of the card, and you have one hell of an eBay auction.

Good luck getting your local bank to lend you the cash needed for the card.